Sign.



L. L. WALRATH.

SIGN. APPLICATION FILED APB.21,1909.

Patented Oct. 5, 1909.

UNITED era LEW LEROY wALnA'rn, or SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA.

SIGN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Get. 5, 1999.

Application filed April @1, 1909. Serial No. 491,278.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Law LEROY VALRATH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Sacramento, in the county of Sacramento and State ofCalifornia, have invented a new and useful Sign, of which the followingis a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in signs.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction ofsigns, and to provide a simple and exceedingly inexpensive sign,designed to be employed as a su.b stitute for painted, stenciled orsimilar signs, and adapted to be quickly changed without destroying theletters, numbers, or other characters employed in the make-up of thesign.

Vith these and other objects in view, the invention consists in theconstruction and novel combination of parts hereinafter fully described,illustrated in the accompanying drawing, and pointed out in the claimshereto appended; it being understood that various changes in the form,proportion, size and minor details of construction, within the scope ofthe claims, may be resorted to without departing from the spirit orsacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawing :-Figure l is an elevation of a sign, constructed inaccordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged horizontalsectional view of one end of the sign. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectionalview of the same. Fig. 4t is an elevation of one of the sign strips.Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view, illustrating the manner of applyingthe sign strips to the supporting member. Fig. 6 is a rear elevation ofa portion of the supporting member, showing a plurality of attachingdevices. Fig. 7 is a detail perspective view, illustrating amodification of the invention in which metallic clips are employed forsecuring the sign strips to the supporting member. Fig. 8 is a similarview showing another modification of the invention in \vhichthe signstrips are secured to the supporting member by elastic bands.

Like numerals of reference designate oorresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawing.

1 designates a longitudinally disposed supporting member. desi ned to beconstructed of pasteboard, sheet metal, or any other suitable materialand secured at its ends by paper fasteners 2, or other suitable means toa background, which may consist of a plurality of separate pieces 3 anda of different colors for rendering the sign ornamental and attractive.Any desired background may be employed, and the supporting strip, ifdesired, may be secured directly to a wall, window, box, or othersupport, and while 1 have illustrated in the accompanying drawing asign, composed of one word and consisting of a single row of characters,it will be readily understood that any number of rows containing anydesired number of words, figures, characters and the like may be usedfor advertising or other purposes.

The letters or other characters of the sign are formed by a plurality ofsign strips 5, constructed of paper, cloth, tinfoil, or any othersuitable material and bearing a plurality of letters (3, or other signcharacters and foldable to expose and display one or more of suchcharacters, and also to provide an inner attaching portion 7, which issecured to the supporting member by fastening devices 8, consisting ofpaper clips extending transversely across the front of the supportingstrip and between the inner and outer portions of the sign strips, asclearly illustrated in Fig. 5 of the drawing. The paper fasteningdevices or clips may be supplied with gummed terminals, or the back ofthe supporting member may be gummed, if desired. The folded sign stripsare arranged successively in overlapped relation, each succeeding onepartially covering the preceding one and concealing the unused part ofthe outer portion so as to expose only the desired character orcharacters thereof, and to confine the terminal of the said outerportion. The sign strip is folded at a point adjacent to the front ofthe letter or other character to be exposed, and the inner portion isthen secured to the supporting member. This is continued until the signis completed. The terminal of the outer portion of the last sign stripis folded exteriorly of the strip to conccal the unused letters and issecured by the paper "fastener, which attaches the supporting member 1to the background. hen it is desired to change the sign, the paper clipsor fastening devices 8 are out along one of the side edges of thesupporting member, which frees the inner set or series of sign strips.The sign strips may then be refolded to expose other characters and maybe applied to the supporting member by fresh paper clips, the old orused ones being previously removed. The background may be provided witha suitable hanger 9, or the sign may be attached in any other desiredmanner.

Instead of employing paper fastening devices or clips, metallic clips 10may be used, as illustrated in Fig. 7 of the drawing, the terminal 11being bent downward or inward against the back of the supporting memberto secure the sign strips to the same. The metallic clips are adapted tobe bent out of engagement with the supporting member when the sign is tobe changed.

As illustrated in Fig. 8 of the drawing, elastic bands 12 of rubber maybe conveniently employed for securing the sign strips to the supportingmember, and any other attaching means, which will enable the sign stripsto be removed uninjured, may be em ployed for securing such strips tothe supporting member.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A changeable sign including a supporting member, a'plurality offlexible sign strips provided with a series of sign characters andfoldable to expose one or more of the same and to provide an innerattaching portion, said strips being successively arranged in overlappedrelation to conceal the unused characters of the outer portions of thestrips, and means for securing the inner attaching portions to thesupporting member.

2. A changeable sign including a supporting member, a plurality offlexible sign strips provided with a series of sign characters andfoldable to expose one or more of the same and to provide an innerattaching portion, said strips being successively arranged in overlappedrelation to conceal the unused characters of the outer portions of thestrips, and clips extending across the front of the attaching member andbetween the inner and outer portions of the sign strips and securing thelatter to the said member.

3. A changeable sign including a supporting member, a plurality offlexible sign strips provided with a series of sign characters andfoldable to expose one or more of the same and to provide an innerattaching portion, said strips being successively arranged in overlappedrelation to conceal the unused characters of the outer portions of thestrips, and paper clips extending across the front of the attachingmember and between the inner and outer portions of the sign strips andhaving their terminals secured to the back of the supporting member.

a A changeable sign including a supporting member, a plurality offlexible sign strips provided with a series of sign characters andfoldable to expose one or more of the same and to provide an innerattaching portion, said strips being successively arranged in overlappedrelation to conceal the unused characters of the outer portions of thestrips, and paper clips extending across the front of the attachingmember and between the inner and outer portions of the sign strips andhaving their terminals coated with adhesive material and secured to theback of the support; ing member.

A changeable sign including a background, a supporting member secured atspaced points to the background, a plurality of sign strips providedwith sets of sign characters and foldable to expose one or more of suchcharacters and to provide an inner attaching portion, said strips beingarranged successively in overlapped relation, and means for securing theinner attaching portions of the sign strips to the supporting member.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have heretoaffixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

LEIV LEROY IVALRA'II-I.

\Vitnesses Atuxis B. CIIAPIN, Josnrrr PEEL.

